Automatically adjustable bead breaker



Nav. 12, 1957 c. c. ATHMANN AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTABLE BEAD-BREAKER original Fired annals, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 DHHIJ Nov. 12, 1957 c. c, ATHMANN 2,812,305

' AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTABLE BEAD BREAKER origina; Filed June 15, l1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 5 79 .jk/vengar United States Patent O AUTOMATICALLY ADJUSTABLE BEAD BRAKR Chrys C. Athmann, Melrose, Minn.

Original application June 15, 1949, Serial No. 99,214, now Patent No. 2,695,659, dated November 30, 1954. Divided and this application June 2, 1954, Serial No. 434,000

Claims. (Cl. IS7-1.28)

This invention relates to apparatus for use in mounting and demounting pneumatic tire casings. More particularly it relates to apparatus for breaking loose the bead of a tire from its carrying wheel and for thereafter removing the tire from the wheel and reapplying the same.

in the breaking loose of the bead from the rim of a wheel after it has been carried thereon for a considerable period of time, it is frequently diliicult to effect the separation of the bead from the rim. In order to eect such a separation the bead loosening elements must necessarily be properly positioned if a minimum of effort is to be used. In addition, inconvenient and time consuming adjustments are required with most bead loosening devices preparatory to breaking the bead on a tire mounted on a wheel of diameter different from that of the wheel from which a tire was removed immediately preceding. j In other words, in loosening the bead of a tire the bead breaking elements must necessarily be properly adjusted for a particular wheel. If the next wheel to be separated from its tire is of a different diameter a second adjustment must be made of the positioning of the bead breaking elements preparatory to performing the bead breaking opera- 2,812,805 Patented Nov. l2, 1957 ICC These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus with a casing thereon and being removed or replaced;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the machine in position for initially breaking the casing beads loose from the rim flanges; j l

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view with the upper lever unit broken away;

Fig 4 is` an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged front elevational view of the rim manipulating shoe;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the shoe of Fig. 5;

F Fig. 7 is an enlarged section taken on. the line 7--7 of Fig. 8 is a side view of anotherform of rotary radial arm, and

Fig. 9 is a section taken on the line 9 9 of Fig. 8.

The apparatus is mounted on a frame having a vertical tubular post 10 suported by four legs 11. As shown in Fig. 4 a casing having a circular `bottom plate 12 is y mounted on the top of the post 10. The plate 12 of the tion. Thus much time is wasted and much effort is consumed in performing these adjustments. My invention is directed toward obviating these disadvantages.`

This application is a divisional application of my co pending application entitled, Circumferentially Travelling Type Tire Mounting and Demounting Apparatus, Serial Number 99,214, led by me in the United States Patent Ofce on lune 15, 1949, and now Patent No. 2,695,659.

It is a general object of my invention to provide an automatically adjustable bead breaker of inexpensive and simple construction and operation.l

A more specic object is to provide a novel and improved bead breaker which is automatically adjustable to tire carrying wheels of various diameters upon-the en-` gagement and holding of the tire carrying wheel.

Another object is to provide a combined wheel holder and automatically adjustable bead breaker.

Another object is to provide a combined wheel holder and automatically adjustable bead breaker of very simple ing device which can quickly, simply and easily be ad-V justed to engage and hold wheels of various diameters.

Another object is to provide a combined wheel holder and automatically adjustable bead breaker constructed and arranged to permit association and cooperation with a circumferentially travelling type tire mounting and de-` mounting apparatus, all in the same tool or Vpiece of ma.v chingo',`

. in Fig. 3.

casing has a circular casing wall 13 mounted thereon. On the upper edge of the casing wall 13 is a larger circular top plate 14.

A vertical shaft 15 extends upwardly through the plate 14 and some distance thereabove. Theshaft 15 is supported by a collar 17, having a setscrew 17u therein and resting upon the upper-end of a sleeve 18, which is se-` cured to and extends upwardly from the center of the large circular plate 14. About this sleeve is a flanged collar 19 having three rim clamping arms 20 pivotally connected thereto and extending outwardly therefrom. These arms have their outer ends slidably supported by studs 21 which extend upwardly from the large plate 14. A lever 22 is formed integrally with and extends radially outwardly from the flanged collar 19. Its outer end carries a stud 23 which extends through an arcuate slot 24 in the plate 14. This stud 23 is threaded into a nut 25 which in turn is mounted on a threaded crank 26. The crank 26 is pivotally mounted upon the plate 14 as shown at the lower left-hand corner of Fig. 3 :and is supported thereby for rotation about its longitudinal axis. When the crank is rotated,.the lever-22 will swing about the shaft 15 and relative to the plate 14. This will cause the rim clamping arms to move inwardly or outwardly, depending upon the direction of movement of the crank.

A pair of small blocks 27 is mounted on the under side of the plate 14.r Spaced arms 28 are pivotally connected to the blocks, and these arms extend beneath the plate 14 at opposite sides of the casing wall 13. As shown in Fig. 3, the arms 28 have converging forward portions 28a and at their front ends are connected to a channel shaped lever 29 which curves upwardly` above the plate 14 for a considerable distance. A hand lever 30 is pivotally connected to the lever 29 at 31, and this hand lever extends forwardly above the remainder of the machine in one position thereof which is shown in Fig. 2, but can be swung upwardly and rearwardly to the raised position shown in Fig. 1.

The hand lever 30 extends slightly beyond the pivot 31 and carries a cross stud 32 upon which is a sleeve 33 shown A tension spring 34 is connected between the sleeve 33 and a casing bead'engaging shoe 35 which is pivotally carried by a bar 36 which extends between the spaced arms 28.` This shoe has a generally upstanding curved blade portion 37. i .Pivotally connected to .the -flanged collar'19 a bead slide adiustiasleter ,3.3. .This ,lever has an Velongated .slot 39 therein, and a guide pin 40 extends through the slot and is anchored in the large plate 14. When the crank 2..6 is .rotated t .extend .the Arim .clamping arms 10 tout- Wardly the .bead @hee .adjusting .lever Y3.8Wi11 also .move outwardly andsirnilarlymove ,thepivoted `bead shoe 35.

The :liandleverjhas la bead shoe 4 1 pivotal1y supported thereby. This .shoe ,is shown v.to extend .downwardly .and .generally toward the tiret described bead shoe 35, 37. i

Withinthe circular casing at the upper end of the post .1.0 .and .mounted 0n .the Shaft 1,5, is :a `warm gear 42. Meshed with it is a worm 43, at least one end of which extendaoutwardlythrouah theeireuiartcasing wall l1.3 and has a pulley 44 thereon. The pulley is connected by :a belt :4 5 t0 a pulleyouthe shaft .46.of a motor 47. The motor is conveniently provided with a foot control 4 8 pivotally ,carried one of .the vI egsll and connected to a suitable switch 48a. Y*

The vertical shaft 15 has a collar .49 `mounted on its upper end portion. The {shaftis atted along one side as shown at 50 inFigure 3, and a set screw 51 is threaded through thecollar49 and bears. against the ,ilatted portion of the shaft so that the collar will rotate with the shaft.

A tubular member 5e2-extends outwardly and downwardly from the collar 49. Longitudinally slidable in it is a .post 5 3 havinga casing ,b ead manipulating blade 54 thereon. This blade has a button 55 extending outwardly therefrom. The tubular member 52 has a fork 57 extending upwardly from its router end. `Lying in the fork is the reduced portion 58 of a circular nut 5 9, which is threadedly carried on a threaded shaft 60. This shaft extends ,from-the casing b ead manipulating blade 54 and liesaboye the ,tubular member 52 and post 53. Turning of the nut 59 will Imove the blade 54 inwardly `and outwardly relatively to the vertical shaft 15.

When a tire casing lis .to be removed from a rim, the wheel and tire are laid upon the plate 14, the lshaft extending 11p through the vteatral opening of the wheel- Arorlrida. portieri 0f tire edge 0f the plate 14 adjacent the arcuate .Slot 24 `are marks 61, representing diterent .Wheel or rim Sizes- The crank v26 can be turned to bring the .liever 22 to a .point 'just short of the wheel size indication desired, before placing Vthe wheel in position. Then the Crank tis .turned to cause the Yarms 2.0 to expand against the inner circumference vrof the rim. rSince the arms 2.9.a1l move together. the wheel will .be automatically Centered on the apparatus.

As the rim o r -wheel'is .clamped in position as described above, the head breaker shoe adjusting lever 38 will be moved correspondingly and will locate the lower bead breaker shoe 3,5 in ,the proper position to contact the edge of the lower bead of the tire casing. The hand lever 30 is then .swung down to bring the upper bead breaker shoe 41 into contact with the edge of the upper bead of the tire casing. This shoes is shown to be angular in shape so that it will'travel downwardly until the angle engages the wheel rim. When the hand lever is pulled down, inward pressure will he applied transversely of the tire and the beads will be broken loose adjacent the points where the shoes 35 and 41 engage them.

When the beads have been loosened adjacent the shoe 41 only, a hand tool is inserted between the bead and rim and a short section of the bead is pried up or off the rim. The bead manipulating blade 54 is adjusted outwardly and vvertically so that it will lie approximately as shown in Fig. 4, with the upper bead .of the tire casing lying upon the buttonSS. The motor control member is pressed with the foot and the arms 52, 53 will rotate, carrying the bead manipulating shoe 54 about in a circular path. The button g'willliftthe tire beadas it rotates until the entire upper bead has been removed from the rim. Then the inner tubecan be removed and repaired if necessary.

.l Ifitis'rdesiredto vretrieve casingzentirely from the rim, the other bead can be removed in the same manner as just described.

When a tire casing is to be placed on a rim, one side is put on at a time. The shoe 54 is slipped between the rim and the bead, the button 55 riding upon the upper edge of the bead being replaced. When the arm 52, 53 is rotated, the button 55 will force succeeding portions of the bead downwardly past the rim flange. When the arm 52, 53 has completed one revolution it is stopped and the arm is moved upwardly on the vertical shaft 15 to remove the shoe 54 from between the rim and bead of the tire casing. After both beads have been replaced in this manner, said rarm is completely removed from the shaft and the wheel and tire can be taken from the apparatus, the clamping arms 20, of course, having been loosened to free the rim.

Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate a little different form of rotary arm unit. There is shown a vertical sleeve 75 which is adapted to b e mounted on the vertical post 15. A tubular shank 76 is threaded into the sleeve and it carries a pin 77 .which is urged inwardly by a spring '78 interposed between said .pinand a cross pin 79, which extends through the Youter partof the tubular element 76. This structure permits thesleeve 75 to be relatively tightly engaged with the .vertical post 15, but prevents it from locking so that itis diiiicult to remove.

The sleeve 75 has a diagonally disposed tubular barrel 80 welded thereto. A screw threaded member 81 is threaded through the end 82 of the barrel 80 and its inner end bears .against a rod 83 which is longitudinally slidable in the tubular arm 80. The outer end of the rod V83 .has a shoe V84 mounted thereon, said shoe being generally perpendicular, as shown in Fig. 8, and turned on its vertical ,axis to a slight angle as indicated in Fig. 9. On the outer face of the shoe 84 adjacent one lower corner thereof is a vbutton 85 similar to the button 55 shown on the shoe 54 in `the first described embodiment.

The shoe 84 has an upward and inward extension 86 and this is connected by the tension spring 87 to the tubular arm 80 so that the shoe unit will slide inwardly when thescrew 81 is backed up.

The apparatus is adapted for use in tire shops where a great number of tires are mounted and/ or dismounted. Ordinarily a large number of tires of the same size is handled, so that there is no great amount of adjustment needed. It is particularlyuseful for handling truck tires having drop center rims, and other types where they are new and tight or may have been on the rim for a long time and have become rusted to the rim.

Thus it can be seen that I have provided a novel and improved device for removing or loosening the bead of a tire from its carrying wheel. It should be noted that when the wheel engaging elements are adjusted by turning the crank 26, the bead breaking elements are automatically disposed at the proper bead engaging position for the particular tire and wheel being applied to the device for separation. The adjusting lever 38 will cause the bead breaking element at the underside of the tire to shift to the proper position for separating the bead from that particular wheel. It is clear therefore that my device is an automatically adjustable bead breaker which requires no manual adjustment whatsoever of the bead breaking element.

One of the distinctive advantages of my device, in addition to the fact that the bead breaking elements are automatically adjustable, is that the entire device is so simply and inexpensively constructed and can be operated with such a minimum of effort, inconvenience and time consumption. Only a matter of seconds is required to place the wheel upon the device, turn the crank 26 until the wheel engaging elements 2t) engage the inner side of the wheel and thereby automatically position the bead engaging element opposite the bead of the tire. It should be noted that my device is equally applicable to wheels of various diameters and that it is so constructed thatitvcan readily be used in conjunction and in combination with a circumferentially travelling type tire mounting and demounting device such as is disclosed herein.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

l. In a tire casing bead-breaking tool, a wheel support, tire bead breaking means supported for movement relative to said support and having tire casing compressing members thereon, one of which is shiftable radially of a wheel on said support, said wheel support having an expansible wheel engaging clamp thereon to engage wheels of different diameters and a device movable with said expansible clamp and operatively associated with said radially shiftable tire casing compressing member to move said compressing member in synchronism with expansible adjustment of said clamp.

2. In a tire casing bead-breaking tool, a wheel support, a casing bead-engaging element carried by said support and being shiftable relative thereto, shiftable wheel-securing mechanism carried by said support and being shiftable between securing and non-securing position relative to a wheel carrying a tire thereon, a second bead-engaging element supported for shifting movement relative to said wheel support and toward and away from said first mentioned bead-engaging element whereby opposite sides of the tire casing can be forced toward each other, and mechanism operatively connecting said wheel-securing mechanism with said first mentioned bead-engaging element only and causing the latter only to shift therewith to properly position said element relative to the bead of the tire carried on the wheel engaged by said mechanism.

3. In a tire casing bead-breaking tool, a wheel support, a casing bead-breaking element `carried by said support and being shiftable relative thereto, extendable and retractable wheel-securing mechanism carried by said support and being shiftable between securing and nonsecuring positions relative to a wheel carrying a tire thereon and supported by said support, said Wheel-securing mechanism including a plurality of wheel engaging arms pivotable about a vertical axis disposed centrally of said support and moving radially of such axis when said mechanism is shifted thereabout, a second bead-breaking element supported for shifting movement relative to said wheel support and toward and away from said rst mentioned bead-breaking element whereby opposite sides of the tire casing can be forced toward each other, and linkage operatively connecting said wheel-se curing mechanism with one of said bead-breaking elements to cause the latter to shift therewith and thereby properly position said element relative to the bead of the tire carried on the wheel engaged by said mechanism.

4. In a tire casing bead-breaking tool, a wheel support, a casing bead breaker arm supported at one end for swinging movement relative to said wheel support and having a bead engaging element thereon for engagement with the side wall of a tire casing on a. wheel on said support, said arm extending generally radially with respect to said support and having a free end extending beyond said bead engaging element, a second bead breaker arm connected to said free end of the first arm for movement toward and away therefrom, whereby opposite sides of the tire casing can be pressed toward each other, said bead engaging element being pivotally connected to the first arm for shifting movement radially relatively to said wheel support to accommodate for wheels of different diameters and being separate from any movement of the second bead breaker arm.

5. In a tire casing bead-breaking tool, a Wheel support, a casing bead breaker arm supported for swinging movement relative to said wheel support and having a first bead engaging shoe carried thereby for engagement with the side wall of a tire casing on a wheel on said support, a second bead breaker arm connected to the first arm for movement toward and away therefrom and having a second bead engaging shoe carried thereby, whereby opposite `sides of the tire casing can be pressed toward each other,

said first shoe being pivotally connected to said first arm for shifting movement radially relative to said wheel support, the radial movement of said first shoe being separate from any movement of the second bead breaker arm, and a spring device yieldably urging said bead breaker arms apart.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS `1,353,078 Smith Sept. 14, 1920 1,793,864 Manley Feb. 24, 1931 2,212,768 Bonneau Aug. 27, 1940 2,534,950 Butterfield et a1. n Dec. 19, 1950 2,556,024 Bourbon et al June 5, 1951 2,569,788 Weaver Oct. 2, 1951 2,609,039 Henderson Sept. 2, 1952 2,695,659 Athmann Nov. 30, 1954 

